My Most Memorable Easter ...

I have had the privilege of seeing many wonderful miracles during our nearly half century of ministry in Eastern Europe. The Lord has given us boundless grace and mercy as He has lead us down many paths, protected us from great harm, and strengthened us to do His bidding.

During that time we have celebrated many Easter Sundays in many places. However, our most memorable Easter was not behind the Iron Curtain or in a small Russian village or a large Polish city … it was in Tacoma, Washington in the U.S.A. on an Easter Sunday evening, 19 years ago, when a dear brother placed his broken life on the altar and accepted Jesus Christ’s gift of a new heart.

As I meditated on the Cross and the perfect Lamb, Jesus Christ, I thought about how this selfless act of love by the Creator of the universe was a game changer for all of humanity. His beloved creation had taken a turn down a crooked path … a path to certain destruction … He had to straighten that path, and did, by offering his only Son as the sacrifice for all.

But while it was for ALL humanity, it is a wonderful blessing to see it being played out on a personal scale … with just one lost man. As my Easter offering to you, the reader, I share the remembrance of a man whose life was changed that Easter evening in 1993;  a man who has continued to grow under the tutelage of the Holy Spirit. I have watched his life change and bloom. And though he calls me “mentor” I call him “brother”. He is on our editorial team, a frequent contributor to “Let’s Talk” and a beautiful example of God‘s love.

“Our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”  Titus 2:13-14

Happy Easter to all of our readers and to you, Larry Abele, my friend and my brother in Christ.

Paul Weresch

Cherie, Glenn and Christmas ...

These last couple weeks, just days before the celebration of Christmas, I have lost two close friends from my little Idaho community.

Cherie was a dear woman … a member of our church, a widow lady who loved gardening, loved her church, loved helping people, loved the small group she was in … and loved her God. She was 81 years old and apparently in good health. Returning from a meeting in the city where she was putting together Christmas wreaths, she had a massive heart attack and died instantly.

Cherie’s memorial service packed our little church and the atmosphere was full of love, warmth, memories … and hope.

But, the reason I felt compelled to write this was my good friend, Glenn. Glenn was my neighbor. He was a wonderful dad to his four children (with one more due in a few weeks), he was a hard worker, he was greatly interested in his family, the school and his community.

When I had an operation on my hand this last summer, Glenn made sure my lawn was mowed and was there for anything I couldn’t handle alone.

Glenn had a generic back problem that made it very difficult and painful to work … and work is scarce around this part of the country anyway. Glenn was worried that he couldn’t care for the family that he loved so much and made the decision that they would be better off without him.

He spent Sunday with his children, wrote each of them a letter and drove up the road for the last time. Glenn took his own life yesterday morning … leaving a family that he loved behind and breaking my heart. I have no idea what the service will be like or if they will have one … I just know I miss Glenn.

The difference between those two new stories for the Christmas season is HOPE!

Cherie and her family had hope in their hearts … hope that comes from knowing that there is life in the Lord … here, now and in the future.

Glenn had no hope … though he was a good man, he did not have the Lord to fall back on when the going got tough. He thought he had to do it all alone … he had no hope.

In this day and age our society struggles with the TRUE meaning of Christmas … much ink and paper has been wasted on the airing of theories for and against. But if one looks at the statistics about the heartbreak and agony that is unseen amidst the shopping, decorating, baking and partying, one will see that the great gift of the Christmas season that God gave to everyone who will accept it, is the gift of hope.

Without that gift, life can be tough, as it surely must have been for Glenn. But with it … we are offered the strength to make it … no matter what the circumstances might be. We just have to find it, open it and marvel in it.

If you haven’t opened the gift that Christ was born and died to give to you … personally … this is a great time to do it. Accept God’s gift this Christmas.

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

Larry Abele - Editorial Team